Rasquiz Alfred Johnson (born January 27, 1995), better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

, Raz Fresco, is a Canadian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

from Brampton, Ontario. He is a member of the hip hop collective Bakersclub, with whom he has released four mixtapes. Raz is currently working on his "Magneto Was Right" project that is currently on its ninth issue. Raz Fresco has worked with popular artists such as

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

Bishop Nehru Markel Ni'Jee Scott (born August 26, 1996), better known by his stage name Bishop Nehru, is an American rapper and record producer from Nanuet, New York. He also directs and edits music videos. Career 2009–13: Early career At age 13, Nehru ...

Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons signed with record producer Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainm ...

Wale Wale or WALE may refer to: Places * Wale, Devon, a hamlet in England * Wale, Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, a village in Poland People * Wale (surname) *Wale (rapper), stage name of American rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Radio and televisi ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...

, and

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

Life and career

Early life and musical beginnings

Raz Fresco was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

to Jamaican parents Sandra Charlton and William Johnson. He moved to

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

shortly after his dad was deported and then moved to

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

, where he attended St. Marguerite D'Youville. He is the nephew of dub and

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the ho ...

artist

Earl Zero Earl Anthony Johnson (born 1953), better known as Earl Zero, is a Jamaican roots reggae artist, whose career began in the 1970s. He is the uncle of Toronto rapper Raz Fresco. History Born 1953 in the Greenwich Town area of Kingston, Johnson was ...

. When Raz was in the 2nd grade he began to write rap lyrics to beats he would find online. Raz began producing his own beats in the 7th grade.

2010-2011: Laced Up and MCMXCV

After the release of ''Welcome To The Bakersclub'', Raz was flown out to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

to sign a management contract with The Commission. Later in 2010, Raz released his second mixtape ''Laced Up''. In June 2011, Raz released his third mixtape ''MCMXCV'' which was hosted by

Don Cannon Donald Cannon (born August 2, 1979) is an American DJ, record producer, and record executive who served as Vice President of A&R at Def Jam Recordings from 2012 to 2018. With DJ Drama, he is the co-founder of the record label Generation Now, a ...

. The mixtape was well received generating over 15,000 downloads within the first week.

2012-present: CakeyPocket$, No Hookz, The Popcorn Tape, & Pablo/Frescobar

Shortly after the release of ''MCMXCV'' Fresco began ''CakeyPocket$'', his first entirely self-produced project. A consistent visual campaign of 8 videos gained Raz more notoriety on popular hip hop sites and news outlets such as

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

and XXL. The mixtape was also nominated for Artist Mixtape of The Year at the 2012 Stylus Awards. In the winter of 2012 Raz dropped ''No Hookz'' with Bakersclub artist Chill Will. This served as a prelude to their full length collaborative project The Popcorn Tape which was released in January 2013. In the winter of 2013 Raz produced Bishop Nehru's ''Mobb Dizzle'' for the

NBA Live 14 ''NBA Live 14'' is a basketball video game released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2013. It is the first ''NBA Live'' game on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. ''NBA Live 14'' features Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers as its cover ...

soundtrack. Raz's debut album entitled '' Pablo Frescobar'' was released in 2015.

Personal life

Fresco is a member of the

Five-Percent Nation The Five-Percent Nation, sometimes referred to as the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE/NOGE) or the Five Percenters, is an Black nationalism, Afro-American Nationalist movement influenced by the Nation of Islam founded in 1964 in the Harlem secti ...

and goes by the name I Power Allah. Stating with in an interview with Vice.com: "I met Born King, my educator within the Five-Percent Nation in 2014 and was introduced to the Nation properly through him. However, I didn’t just join right away. Born King and I remained in contact and I kept studying and learning myself. I eventually realized the Five-Percent Nation of Gods and Earths had the same objectives that I had in mind. The fact that you had to internalize your lessons and thousands of years of history and science was something I saw as key to me being a dope MC and being able to drop it in my bars cleverly for kids to soak up. Since its inception, the focus of the Nation has always been reaching the youth. As an MC I was trying to drop these facts for the youth and not just memorize them but be able to understand the timeline of history as clearly as I could and as far back as I could possibly go. These two things are what made me hit up Born King like, “Yo God, I’m trying to start my lessons”...

Discography

Solo Projects

* ''Welcome To The Bakers Club'' (2010) * ''Laced Up'' (2010) * ''MCMXCV'' (2011) * ''CakeyPocket$'' (2012) * ''The Screwface Tape'' (2014) * '' Pablo Frescobar'' (2015) * ''How U Survive Through Life Everyday (H.U.S.T.L.E.)'' (2017) * ''God Made Devil - EP'' (2018) * ''410 North'' (2018) * ''No Deal Peel'' (2019) * ''Deluxe Hilfiger Regalia'' (2019) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #1'' (2020) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #2'' (2020) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #3'' (2020) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #4'' (2020) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #5'' (2020) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #6'' (2020) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #7'' (2020) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #8'' (2021) * ''Magneto Was Right Issue #9'' (2021) * ''Pocket Operations'' (2022) * ''Magnetic'' (2022) * ''Marvelous Right Wrist'' (2022) * ''Arm Leg Leg Arm Head = ALLAH'' (2022) * ''pocket operations II: forty seconds only'' (2023) * ''Pocket Operations III'' (2024)

Collaborative Projects

* ''No Hookz'' (w/ ChillxWill) (2012) * ''The Popcorn Tape'' (w/ ChillxWill) (2013) * ''Brother From Another'' (w/ The 6th Letter) (2019) * ''Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction'' (w/ BriskInTheHouse) (2019) * ''Gorgeous Polo Sportsmen'' (w/ Futurewave) (2020) * ''SUNray'' (w/ Ray Robinson) (2021) * ''Alkmy'' (w/ ALS) (2021) * ''Secret Wars'' (w/

Dibia$e Donell McGary (born October 30, 1976) known professionally as Dibiase, is an American alternative hip hop producer from Watts, Los Angeles, California. He is also a member of Project Blowed hip-hop shop. Career Dibiase released his debut album, ...

) (2021) * ''Boulangerie'' (w/

Nicholas Craven Nicholas Craven is a Canadian record producer from Montreal, Quebec. He has worked with artists such as Roc Marciano, Billy Woods, Your Old Droog, and Navy Blue. He is also known for his work with Griselda artists such as Boldy James, Benny Th ...

) (2022) * ''Boost for Breakfast'' (w/ Funk Lo) (2022) * ''GRIPTAPE'' (w/ Eric Right & Gritfall) (2022) * ''SOLRAP!'' (w/ ALS) (2023) * ''Piñata Cake'' (w/ ALS) (2023) * ''777'' (w/ Figub Brazlevic) (2023) * ''Gia... À La Carte'' (w/ Estee Nack & Nicholas Craven) (2023) * ''Bakin Soul'' (w/ Cookin Soul) (2024) * ''Northside'' (w/ Daniel Son) (2024) * ''The Eternal Now'' (w/

DJ Muggs Lawrence Muggerud (born January 28, 1968) professionally known as DJ Muggs, is an American DJ, audio engineer and record producer. He has been a member of Cypress Hill, a member of the trip hop band Cross My Heart Hope to Die and the leader of h ...

) (2024) * ''Knockout'' (w/ Dibia$e) (2024) * ''Stadium Lo Champions'' (w/ Futurewave) (2025)

Production discography

Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson

– ''Black Thoughts'' (2009) : Track 01. "Black Thoughts" & Track 05. "Heaven or Hell" *

(2010) : "Trippin Out" *

– ''Mister 16: Casino Life'' (2011) : Track 05. "What They Talking About" * DJ Holiday (2011) : "First Class" (feat.

, B.O.B., & Chill Will) *

- Nehruvia (2013) : Track 08. "Moon & Stars" (feat. Raz Fresco) * The 6th Letter - NorthernPlayalisticGetHighMuzik Vol. 1 : Track 01. "Gin 'N Juice '14", Track 02. "Take A Hit Pt. II" ,Track 03. "Still Twistin'" (feat. Raz Fresco), Track 04. "1992" , Track 05. "Chain Smokin'" (Scratches By DJ Corey Grand & AptOne), Track 06. "WEED RAP", Track 07. "A Dollar & A Dream" (feat. BriskInTheHouse & The Foreigners), Track 08. partyandBULLshit, Tack 09. "4daCREAM" (feat. Jimmy Johnson), Track 10. "Mic CHECK" (feat. Fabrashay A), Track 11. "Bakin' Up" (feat. Lo Thraxx), Track 12. "Blue Chee$e" (feat. ChillxWill), Track 13. "Nag Champa Interlude", & Track 14. "Audi 5000" (feat. P. Blackk & Brandon Chey) *

Sir Michael Rocks Antoine Amari Reed (born December 24, 1987) is an American rapper better known by his stage name Sir Michael Rocks (or Mikey Rocks). He started his music career in 2005 as a member of the hip hop duo The Cool Kids (duo), The Cool Kids, and later ...

: Tris J Ft. Sir Michael Rocks "Wheelin Dealin"

References

External links

Official Twitter Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresco, Raz 1995 births Living people Canadian male rappers 21st-century Black Canadian male singers Five percenters Canadian hip-hop singers Canadian people of Jamaican descent Musicians from Brampton Musicians from Mississauga Singers from Toronto